Overview

The South Carolina Honors College (SCHC) combines the benefits of a small college in the context of a large comprehensive research university. The college provides academically gifted and motivated students with the opportunity to develop their intellectual potential to the fullest. It emphasizes small classes with intensive interaction between students and professors. The Honors College curriculum is designed to exploit fully the talents of both students and teachers. Any qualified student, regardless of major or career interest, can take advantage of the college's rich educational environment.

Admission

Admission to the college is based upon proof of a student's potential for high academic achievement. Admission criteria include outstanding work in high school, high aptitude test scores, the ability to write well, and a strong intellectual curiosity. A candidate for the college must be accepted to the University and then must submit a separate application for admission to the Honors College.

The admissions policies are determined by the SCHC Policy Committee and administered by the coordinator of admissions for the South Carolina Honors College in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. The normal standards to be considered for admission include, but are not confined to, an SAT of 1300 and a strong academic performance in high school, as well as evidence of keen analytical skills and a clear writing style. Transfer students and students already enrolled in the University who have a GPA of 3.50 on a 4.00 scale also may be considered for admission. Admission of such students will be contingent on a review of the student's overall college record, the quality of the application, and the availability of space in the Honors College.

Housing

Students enrolled in the South Carolina Honors College have the option of applying through University Housing for available SCHC housing. Honors residential communities are available for all four years. Vacancies in residence halls located on the historic Horseshoe are offered first to upper-level Honors College students. Honors College first-year students have many housing options, including two honors residential options, Maxcy College, which houses only SCHC first-year students and which is located directly behind the college's administrative offices, and Capstone on the east side of campus.

Retention in the College

To remain in good standing in the college, Honors College students must maintain a minimum GPA on a sliding scale that starts at 3.00 for first-year students and rises to 3.30 for seniors. In addition, Honors College students must earn honors course credits--9 by the end of their first year, 18 after their sophomore year, and 27 after their junior year--to remain in good standing in the college. Students who fall short of these requirements are allowed one semester of probation to increase their GPA or the number of honors credits to reach the required level. Any student who wants to apply for grade forgiveness for a South Carolina Honors College course must first petition the dean of the Honors College.

Honors College Advising

Entering Honors College first-year students are advised by the staff of Honors College during Freshmen Orientation, and the college continues to advise all Honors College students throughout their time in the college. Once a student has selected a major, he or she also is advised by faculty and/or staff members in that discipline. For this reason, most Honors College students have two advisors.

Graduation with Honors from the South Carolina Honors College

Honors College students have the opportunity to "graduate with honors from the South Carolina Honors College." This accomplishment is recognized on their transcript, their diploma, and during commencement. In order to graduate with honors, students must complete at least 45 credit hours of Honors College courses, including a senior thesis or project. These courses must include two courses each in English, laboratory science, and the history of civilization, as well as one course each in analytical reasoning, the humanities, the social sciences, and an honors outside the classroom experience that could be either undergraduate research, service learning, study abroad, or outside South Carolina or internship experience. All Honors College students, regardless of their major, can complete these requirements.

Baccalaureus Artium et Scientiae

The South Carolina Honors College offers a unique degree, the Baccalaureus Artium et Scientiae (Bachelor of Arts and Science). A student seeking the Baccalaureus degree constructs an individualized program of study that is tailored to his or her specific interests. This allows students with interests that fall outside traditional disciplinary boundaries to pursue undergraduate studies that fit their individual interests, needs, and aptitudes. The Baccalaureus degree is most suitable for students preparing to continue their studies beyond the baccalaureate level, especially in areas expecting a broad educational experience, such as law, government service, various academic graduate programs, and medicine. Admission to this degree program is based on outstanding academic work and a commitment to developing intellectual breadth.

The individualized curriculum of a Baccalaureus degree candidate is supervised by an advisory committee, which aids Baccalaureus degree candidates in course selection and career orientation. In place of the University's traditional major and other requirements, Baccalaureus students must take a wide range of courses designed to develop intellectual inquisitiveness. These requirements are constructed so that Baccalaureus students satisfy the basic degree requirements of the College of Arts and Sciences (curricula I and II). Baccalaureus students also must demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language at the 300 level and submit a senior thesis or project worth 9 to 15 credit hours; they must also complete a total of 69 honors course credit hours. Graduation with the Baccalaureus degree requires a 3.50 cumulative GPA. Additional requirements are set by each student's advisory committee, depending on his or her goals, needs, and lacunae. See the SCHC Handbook for further details.

Minor in Inquiry

This minor is designed for students who wish to prepare for an intensive undergraduate research experience. The program of study, designed in close consultation with both the student's major and SCHC advisors, will provide a richer understanding of the logic, conduct, and context of inquiry in related disciplinary arenas.

Application. Interested students must complete an application and qualify for the minor. Applications can be submitted any time after completion of the first year. Normally, students will be expected to have at least a 3.30 grade point average. Applications will be evaluated on overall merit by the Minor in Inquiry Oversight Committee. Applications may be obtained from the South Carolina Honors College, the College of Arts and Sciences, and online on the Honors College Web site.

Opportunity to Participate in the Honors College. The Minor in Inquiry is open to all qualified undergraduates, in and outside the Honors College. All students in the minor will be given priority access to minor-eligible courses offered in the Honors College. They will also be given priority consideration for the SCHC Undergraduate Research Assistantships. Finally, non-honors students in the minor will be given the opportunity to undertake a senior honors thesis or project. Non-honors students admitted to the minor will be assigned the appropriate Honors College advisor who will work with the student and the student's major advisor to plan the most suitable program.

Requirements. Eighteen credit hours are required to satisfy the minor, distributed over three levels. At least half of the credits must be in the Honors College. Each student must take at least one of the appropriate Level I, "Fundamentals," courses. These courses introduce some fundamental problems of inquiry confronting those working within related disciplines (for example, the natural sciences). In addition, a student must take at least three courses from Level II. Level II courses must be taken outside of the student's major discipline. These courses, chosen in close consultation with the student's advisors, are intended to broaden and deepen the student's understanding of the nature and problems of inquiry introduced in the Fundamentals course, as well as explore new areas affecting the conduct and context of inquiry in the student's area of interest. In some cases a student may elect to take a second Level I course. The final two courses may be selected either from among advanced research courses (400 level and above) in the student's major discipline including the senior thesis/project--Level III courses--or from additional Level II courses. Disciplinary courses counted toward the minor must be approved by both the student's major and honors advisors and cannot count toward major credit. Alternatively, the student may elect to take additional Level II courses.

Level I Courses--one course required.Each student must select the appropriate course from the following list:

SCHC 280A Fundamentals of Inquiry in the Social SciencesSCHC 281A Fundamentals of Inquiry in the HumanitiesSCHC 285A Fundamentals of Scientific Inquiry
UNIV 201 Fundamentals of Inquiry may be substituted for this requirement.

Level II Courses--three courses required.The following courses address fundamental issues in the logic, context, and conduct of inquiry in certain broad areas of research. Students must select at least three of these courses with the advice and approval of their major and minor advisors; the courses are expected to reflect the area of the student's research interests. These courses must be outside the student's particular major. The student may substitute a second Level I course for one of these three.

Level III Courses. At Level III of the minor, students will have the option of using up to 6 credit hours of advanced research courses (400-level and above) from their major discipline, including Senior Thesis/Project, toward the minor. If they elect to do so, these courses can count toward their major requirements. Students may also choose to complete their minor by taking additional contextual Level II courses, while taking advanced research courses in their discipline as part of their major program. Minor-eligible, advanced research courses must be approved by both the honors and major advisors. Examples might include BIOL 498 Biological Research for a biology major or HIST 692 Historic Preservation Field Experience for a history major.

Further Information.For further information contact: Dean, South Carolina Honors College, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, or the USC Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Additional information may also be found on the Web site of the South Carolina Honors College: http//schc.sc.edu.

SCHC Curriculum

The Honors College offers two types of courses: courses that are unique to the Honors College and Honors College versions of courses offered by other academic units. Honors College sections of courses offered by other academic units carry the same departmental designator and number as their non-honors equivalent, but they have a "500" section number (e.g., ENGL 101, Section 501). Courses developed specifically for the Honors College are designated "SCHC." While SCHC courses have no exact equivalent in the non-honors curriculum, every effort is made to ensure that these courses fulfill general education, major, group, area, minor, or cognate requirements.

SCHC courses that are numbered 200 or higher, "proseminars," are designed to be similar in style to graduate-level seminars and are taught, where possible, through the use of discussion rather than lecture. Normally no more than 18 students may enroll in an Honors College proseminar.

At the 200-level, proseminars are usually broad in scope, providing a firm grounding in the general area described by a discipline. At the junior (300) and senior (400) levels, proseminars are more specific in content, providing the students and the professor the opportunity to delve deeply into a specialized subject. SCHC Proseminar course listings have been left general in order to permit the development of specific topics, which are indicated by suffix (e.g., SCHC 380 Interdisciplinary Proseminar, SCHC 380P Cryptography and Public Policy). Of special interest are the interdisciplinary proseminars, which are designed to bring knowledge from several academic disciplines to bear on a particular problem. Proseminars may be taught by more than one faculty member.

Course Descriptions (SCHC)

101, 102 -- Principles of Biology. {=BIOL 101, 102} (4 each) Must be taken in sequence.

Note: The following courses are proseminars, with specific topics to be selected as need and interests dictate. Generally limited to 18 students, they are either an extensive study of a broad area or an intensive examination of a specific problem.

413 -- Proseminar in Chinese. (3) (Prereq: Special permission by department) Specific topics to be selected as need and interests dictate. The course is an extensive study of a broad area or an intensive examination of a specific problem. Restricted to Honors College students.

414 -- Proseminar in Italian. (3) (Prereq: Special permission by department) Specific topics to be selected as need and interests dictate. The course is an extensive study of a broad area or an intensive examination of a specific problem. Restricted to Honors College students.

415 -- Proseminar in Japanese. (3) (Prereq: Special permission by department) Specific topics to be selected as need and interests dictate. The course is an extensive study of a broad area or an intensive examination of a specific problem. Restricted to Honors College students.

422 -- Proseminar in American History. (3)

423 -- Proseminar in European History. (3)

425 -- Proseminar in History. (3)

430 -- Proseminar in Psychology. (3)

431 -- Proseminar in Sociology. (3)

433 -- Proseminar in Political Science. (3)

434 -- Proseminar in International Relations. (3)

437 -- Proseminar in Geography. (3)

450 -- Proseminar in American Literature. (3)

451 -- Proseminar in Pre-1660 British Literature. (3)

452 -- Proseminar in Post-1660 British Literature. (3)

453 -- Proseminar in Comparative Literature. (3)

454 -- Proseminar in Writing. (3 each)

455 -- Proseminar in English Language and Linguistics. (3)

456 -- Proseminar in Criticism. (3)

457 -- Proseminar in Literature. (3)

458 -- Proseminar in Theatre and Speech. (3)

462 -- Proseminar in Religious Studies. (3)

463 -- Proseminar in French. (3)

465 -- Proseminar in German. (3)

466 -- Proseminar in Art. (3)

472 -- Proseminar in Journalism. (3)

480-489 -- Interdisciplinary Proseminar. (3-4 each)

497 -- Undergraduate Research. (3-15) (Prereq: Special permission by department) Student research supervised by a faculty member. Emphasis is on the development of critical thinking, appropriate research skills, and writing. Restricted to Honors College students.

109 -- Principles of Physics. {may be substituted for PHYS 211} (4) Must be taken in sequence.

110 -- Principles of Physics. {may be substituted for PHYS 212} (4) Must be taken in sequence.

166 -- Art History. (3)

201, 202 -- Proseminar in Biology. (4 each)

203, 204 -- Proseminar in Chemistry. (4 each)

205, 206 -- Proseminar in Geology. (3 or 4 each)

207, 208 -- Proseminar in Marine Science. (4 each)

209 -- Proseminar in Physics. (3)

209L -- Proseminar in Physics Lab. (1)

210 -- Proseminar in Physics. (4)

212 -- Proseminar in Mathematics. (3)

213, 214 -- Proseminar in Mathematics. (4 each)

221, 222 -- Proseminar in American History. (3 each)

223, 224 -- Proseminar in European History. (3 each)

225, 228 -- Proseminar in History. (3 each)

230 -- Proseminar in Psychology. (3)

231 -- Proseminar in Sociology. (3)

232 -- Proseminar in Anthropology. (3)

233 -- Proseminar in Political Science. (3)

234 -- Proseminar in International Relations. (3)

235 -- Proseminar in Economics. (3)

237 -- Proseminar in Geography. (3)

252 -- Studies in Writing. (3) (Prereq: see note above) Theory and practice of rhetoric and study of selected writings. Minimum of three papers and a term paper.

253 -- Comparative Studies in Literature. (3) (Prereq: see note above) Broad historical or generic topics in literature. Minimum of three papers and a term paper.

254 -- Studies in American Literature. (3) (Prereq: see note above) Broad historical or generic topics in American literature. Minimum of three papers and a term paper. Students may not receive credit for both SCHC 254 and English 287.